


You Are My Favorite What-If

by LiterallyThePresident



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast), Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: I came up with this pairing as a joke but Uh Oh, I have to do everything myself huh, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-18 15:45:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18702622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiterallyThePresident/pseuds/LiterallyThePresident
Summary: For the first time in his life, Jon Wanted someone. He yearned, ached, Needed Daniel’s attention, his sharp eyes and sharper smile, his touch like a cattle brand leaving a hand shaped burn on Jon’s heart.





	You Are My Favorite What-If

**Author's Note:**

> Fuck my life

Daniel Jacobi was nothing short of fireworks. He crashed into Jon’s life like a molotov and set his passions ablaze with little more than a cheeky grin and a ‘Call me Daniel, sorry about the gasoline smell’. Up until that moment, Jon’s life had been so dull, felt so pointless, only the pursuit of knowledge truly keeping him going. Daniel was a breath of fresh air, a campfire in a cold winter’s night. Jon knew the moment he met him that he was something special, something to be held onto.

For the first time in his life, Jon _wanted_ someone . He yearned, ached,  _needed_   Daniel’s attention, his sharp eyes and sharper smile, his touch like a cattle brand leaving a hand shaped burn on Jon’s heart. He thought for sure that his feelings were completely unrequited, that someone who burned as bright as Daniel Jacobi would never look his way. Until one balmy summer night on the beach a year into their friendship, where Daniel took his hand and dragged him to dance around the bonfire, spinning him around and around before kissing him like it was the most natural thing in the world, pulling him close like he never wanted to let go and whispering  _I like you too much for my own good_ against his lips. 

They were together for two years before the incident at Daniel’s lab, before Daniel disappeared to parts unknown with a wretched goodbye and a kiss far too soft to suit him. Once he was gone, Jon was like a black hole left behind by a supernova. He filled Daniel’s absence with books and research, trying to fill the void he had left. It almost worked, too. Working at the Institute did a bang up job of distracting him from anything that didn’t involve impending doom or unknowable terrors that lurked in the dark. He did some brief research into the Desolation, because if any Entity would lay claim to his old flame, it would be the Lightless Flame, but nothing ever came up, and he soon stopped trying. He truly did try to move on, and he liked to think he did a good job of it.

And then, one unremarkable day, Daniel came back into his life. He strolled into the Magnus Institute with intent to give a statement, and Jon’s breath caught in his throat when he saw him. He’d aged, obviously. His face was now marred with a large burn scar, his hands fidgety and drumming on any surface they could find. But his eyes... his eyes were just as Jon remembered. A little haunted, perhaps, a little sad, but nothing in the cold universe could quell the fire that lurked within those amber eyes. Those eyes that, when they fell upon Jon for the first time in years, widened with surprise and something Jon dared call relief. He opened his mouth, and then closed it again, fighting for words. Jon drank in the sight of him, cataloguing every difference, as well as every similarity.

“Your eyes are different.” Daniel finally said, “What the fuck happened to you?”

“I could ask the same of you.” he found himself smiling, standing up to greet him, “Sit. I’ll make you some tea.” Rather than do as he was told, Daniel strode around the desk and yanked Jon into a fierce hug, and Jon’s arms moved to return it before his mind even registered he was being touched. Daniel still smelled the same, woodsmoke and cinnamon and something not unlike electricity, and Jon closed his eyes to commit every detail of it to memory. Daniel had gained some muscle over the years, and his hug was so secure and tight that Jon, perhaps a tad touch-starved, could have cried.

“You’re still a twig.” Daniel muttered, “Make yourself some damn tea. And what is the biggest skeptic I know doing working at a place like this?”

“What’s the biggest pragmatist I know doing giving a statement at a place like this?” Jon replied easily. God, it was so easy to slip back into their rhythm, to joke and tease like it had been hours rather than years. He imagined he could feel the tension bleeding from Daniel’s frame as he reluctantly pulled away, and Daniel’s hand came up to his cheek with a frown.

“The hell are all these?” he asked, thumbing a scar left by Prentiss’ worms. Jon sighed and squeezed his elbow before pulling away completely.

“Seems we both have stories to tell.” he said, leaning against the desk and gesturing to the scar on Daniel’s face, “What say you give your statement, and we head out for lunch? There’s a Thai place I know you’ll adore, assuming your tastes haven’t changed.”

“Thai sounds amazing.” he gave that crooked smile that Jon had missed so much, “So, before I overstep here, I have to ask. Are you... seeing anyone?”

“No.” he answered, “There was almost a... but no. Not for some time.” Daniel smiled then, giving Jon a look the brought him back to nights on the beach and stolen moments in dark corners.

“Is it bad that I’m relieved by that?” he asked, not seeming too concerned if it was, “Because... Well, I missed you, Jon. A lot.”

“And I you.” he murmured, “But we’ll have time to talk about everything. I’m off in about a half hour, more than enough time for you to give your statement. I rather think my coworkers will be astounded to see me leave on time.”

“With a gorgeous guy on your arm, no less.” Daniel winked, “So where so I start?” A tape recorder on the desk clicked on by itself, and Daniel blinked down at it. Jon shrugged.

“You get used to it.” he said, “Statement of Daniel Jacobi, regarding...?”

“My alien doppelgänger.”

“...regarding his alien doppelgänger. Statement recorded April sixteenth, twenty nineteen by Jonathan Sims. The Archivist.”

“Oooh, sexy.” Daniel winked, and Jon rolled his eyes. But he was smiling.

“Statement begins.”


End file.
